IKEA

The Company:

IKEA’s dream is to create a better everyday life for many people. The business supports this vision by offering a wide range of affordable, well-designed and functional home furnishing products. IKEA Birmingham (Wednesbury) is committed to providing its staff with high quality training and actively seeks to get involved with the local community in a range of projects.

The Training:

Walsall College worked with IKEA Birmingham (Wednesbury) and Jobcentre Plus to open up employment skills opportunities to local unemployed people with eight week work placements and customer service training. The training gave the candidates the skills and experience for future customer service success and led to four people gaining permanent positions at the company.

The Impact:

Dawn Lloyd, Training and Development Manager for IKEA Birmingham (Wednesbury) said: “Our culture and values are at the heart of everything we do at IKEA and we only work with companies who share our vision. We found this connection with Walsall College.

“The College worked with us and Jobcentre Plus to provide Customer Service NVQs to a group of young people joining IKEA on eight week work placements. The team who delivered the training were brilliant, allowing candidates to practice their customer service skills before working on the shop floor. The training provided us with a group of candidates who had the confidence and the good customer service skills to provide a professional service.

“We took on four people as a result of the scheme, who are now working for the company on a permanent basis. We are now working with Walsall College on a range of projects and recently invited Hospitality and Catering students into IKEA when we held a special event with Gino D’Acampo. I would encourage other employers to get involved with Walsall College. You get a professional service, tailored to the organisation’s needs.”

Employment Services

Walsall College provides a range of employment services to assist businesses with recruitment and redundancy training needs, in the challenging financial climate.